Opinion: Guest Opinions

Will Toor: A transportation vision for Boulder

The Hop, Skip and Jump buses were part of a tradition of transportation innovation in Boulder, former mayor Will Toor writes. (Jeremy Papasso / Daily Camera)

I would like to clarify my perspective on how Boulder can meet the goal of deep reductions in greenhouse gases from transportation while making our city a better place to live and work. I believe that we need to focus both on giving people more travel options, and on transitioning vehicles off of fossil fuels.

In many ways, Boulder's approach to transportation has been very successful. Starting about 25 years ago, civic leaders realized that we can't build our way out of congestion, and that attempts to do so would make the city a less safe and pleasant place. In the early 1990s, the city modeled several potential transportation futures, and found that the scenario in which we focused on widening roads and adding parking actually had worse congestion than a scenario that focused on giving people options in how they travel. And the road-widening approach would make the city more polluted and less livable.

Instead, the city adopted an approach focused on giving people more travel choices. The city adopted its first transportation master plan, with a goal of no growth in vehicle miles travelled in the Boulder Valley. A period of innovation followed. Boulder basically invented a new bus system, working with RTD and Special Transit to create the Hop, Skip, Jump, etc. The city and CU basically invented the student bus pass and the Ecopass programs. And the city began 25 years of consistent investment in a bicycle network that, while still incomplete, has made Boulder one of the best places to bike in the U.S.

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Transit use skyrocketed; bike use also increased. Boulder residents now drive much less than others in the region. And vehicle miles traveled in the Boulder Valley have been basically flat for 20 years. These are remarkable results. They have made Boulder a better place to live, and have contributed to our dynamic economy. And if VMT had grown at the same rate as the rest of the region, carbon pollution would be 50 percent higher.

There is more we can do to give more people the ability to meet more of their needs without having to drive. Smart land use decisions — especially adding significantly more housing within our community — could allow more people to live and work in Boulder, rather than commuting. We can move towards a community-wide EcoPass program. We can stop using outdated zoning rules to force housing and commercial developments to build more parking than the market demands. We can continue to expand our bike network, so more people are comfortable using bikes to get around Boulder. And we can push hard with RTD to build out a true regional network of bus rapid transit.

But there will still be a significant amount of vehicle travel. If we meet all of the goals in the transportation master plan we can achieve about a 40 percent reduction in carbon pollution. To achieve the 80 percent-plus reductions that are needed, we also need to get cars off of fossil fuels. And the most plausible way to do this is by combining electric vehicles with a transition to low carbon electricity. This will also bring the benefits of less urban air pollution, quieter streets, and much lower fuel costs. It also allows everyone to be part of the solution, including those who drive for much of their travel, perhaps making transportation a less divisive issue in our community.

Boulder is well positioned to become a leading city in the adoption of electric vehicles. Boulder is one of the top 25 cities in the U.S. for per capita EV sales (one of only three cities outside of the West Coast and Hawaii),but the leading city, San Jose, had EV sales per capita that were five times higher, so there is plenty of room to do better! We have a history of innovation in transportation — let's apply that same spirit to getting cars off of fossil fuels.

In addition, as Sean Maher pointed out in a recent Daily Camera business column, Boulder is a natural city to experiment with mobility as a shared service, where new technologies can give people access to a vehicle when they need one, without requiring individual car ownership. Structured properly, this could speed electrification and reduce total vehicle travel.

So my advice to city leaders is that transportation electrification should be a core part of the city climate and transportation strategy, as a complement to ongoing efforts to increase travel choices.

Will Toor is a former Boulder mayor and former Boulder County commissioner.

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